For 63 years, the New York Times has been handing out four-star restaurant reviews. Every single one went to a restaurant in New York City. Until now.
Albi, a Palestinian restaurant in Washington D.C.’s Navy Yard neighborhood, received the paper’s coveted four-star rating on June 16, 2026. It’s the first time the Times has bestowed its highest honor on a restaurant outside of New York since formal dining reviews began in 1963.
A tradition broken by bread and fire
NYT critic Ligaya Mishan awarded the rating to chef Michael Rafidi’s restaurant, which centers its menu around open-fire cooking and Levantine culinary traditions. Rafidi’s approach is built on two elemental pillars: bread and fire.
Rafidi has built Albi around Palestinian dishes and hospitality traditions, using local ingredients filtered through Levantine techniques. The restaurant first opened around 2020, but underwent a significant renovation in 2025 that redesigned both the physical space and the menu. The refreshed version leans even harder into Palestinian cultural identity.
